Reaganomics Pros And Cons

1038 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: us economy under reagan

Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States of America, and, in my opinion, is highly overrated. He has been called the patron saint of conservatives, and the savior of the Republican Party. Reagan has been lifted on a pedestal because of the illusion of security and safety he presented in the final years of the Cold War. While Reagan did provide a figure of strength in a time of crisis, both of his terms in office were plagued with failures. In the following I will cover the shortcomings of the Reagan Administration starting with the failed economics policies, and the spike in unemployment. I will also cover the extreme ignorance of issues facing the American public, specifically AIDS. Then I will cover the Cold War years; a topic that cannot be avoided. I will finish by touching on the education system during Reagan’s reign, and environmental issues of the day.
Reaganomics
I will begin by examining the economics of Reagan’s rule. In my research for this paper, I have found many misconceptions that the Reagan Administration saved the economy of the country. The economic policy was known as trickle-down, or supply-side economics, more commonly referred to as Reaganomics. To put it in basic terms, Reaganomics included large tax cuts for the wealthy. The large tax cuts, paired with a large increase in military spending, lead to a massive debt for the country.
Reagan increased military spending by 35%, and tripled the national deficit (American Experience, 2013). Upon entering the office of President, Reagan faced a national debt of $900 billion. When he left the debt was over $2.8 trillion. To add insult to injury, a number of military projects were not finished, or were not used. Case in point; the Star Wars projec...

... middle of paper ...

.... Including the support of The Taliban, which would later come back to devastate many lives.
Reagan ignored the failing education systems in America, and stripped many clean energy projects of funding. If he had not done this, we may have been many years further advanced in making green energy a viable reality.
As you can tell from this reading, I find President Ronald Reagan to be highly overrated. It is always easy to judge through a proverbial window, and I would never wish to serve as President of the United States. While I do not agree with many of the policies that the Reagan Administration put into place, the country did not self-destruct under his rule. In the end, I believe that every person who takes the mantle of The President of the United States of America wishes to leave the country better than before. I personally do not feel that Regan did that.

Show More
Related

  • Major Accomplishments of President Ronald Reagan

    1817 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... years in office. Even when President Reagan, didn’t make wise decisions, he took full blame for them, which made the American population trust him and gain more popularity. With his many major accomplishments in helping the American people, and putting them first, really helped in his favor. Reagan has built up the US military to what it is now because he believed that we needed to “restore America's ability to defend itself and fulfill its responsibilities as a trustee of freedom and peace in the world” (Wild Thing, January 21, 2006). President Reagan is man that has a heart and soul with America, and will fight for our freedoms and rights for as long as his lives. In 1994, President Reagan got Alzheimer’s disease, left public life, and died on June 5, 2004 from pneumonia. Reagan is still looked up to and is considered one of the greatest Presidents of all time.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Johnson And Ronald Reagan

    442 Words  | 1 Pages

    Ronald Read ran a campaign based on lowering taxes, and strong national defense. In his first inaugural address, he emphasized the important to conserving the power of an us control our own destinies. He also says that government is not a solution to the problem that they are the problem. During his term, he decreases the size of federal government and supported policies and reforms that he believed empowered individuals. Reagan also worked to reduce federal spending on home programs, due to his concerns about the constitutionality of those programs. He called for finances cuts, mostly from great Society programs. while not touching Medicare and Social security, Reagan authorized cuts in federal schooling programs, food stamp programs, workplace programs, and other non-military domestic programs. Believing the U.S. had left out the military after the Vietnam war, and because the cold battle continued, Reagan asked for increased funds to reinforce the military. The decrease in taxes and growth in army spending ended in the biggest budget deficits in the united states’ records to that time. The deficits persisted each year, however Reagan vowed to veto any tax increases Congress

    Read More

  • Impact of Reaganomics on the American Economy

    1027 Words  | 3 Pages

    "American President: Ronald Wilson Reagan: Impact and Legacy." Miller Center. University of Virginia, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.

    Read More

  • Reaganomics: Revitalizing the American Economy

    1081 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the most important aspects of Reagan’s time in office was his domestic policy. He knew to have a successful presidency and create a strong, the people of the United States needed to be cared for. His first goal was to turn the economy around from the stagflation it encounter in the Carter era. Stagflation is very similar to inflation. The main difference is that inflation is the result of a quick economic growth while causes the value of money to decrease with now economic growth. To accomplish the turn around, Reagan introduce his economic policy which became known as Reaganomics. Reaganomics was based in supply side economics. This economic theory says that lowering taxes through tax cuts increases revenue by allowing more money

    Read More

  • Ronald Reagan Pros And Cons

    1100 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ronald Reagan, like many other presidents, had his successes and his failures while in office. He led the nation with a conservative agenda that a lot of critics disagreed with. Some of his actions can be called a success or a failure depending on who is looking at it. His successes included the tax cuts of 1981, appointing the first woman to the United States Supreme Court, reduced the amount of nuclear arms by signing a deal with the Soviet Union, made progress towards the end of the Cold War, got the Soviet Union to leave Afghanistan, released the Air Traffic Controllers who went on strike, the rescue mission in Grenada, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, and the Strategic Defense Strategy Initiative of 1983. His failures included the Marines

    Read More

  • Reaganomics and The Decline of The United States

    2061 Words  | 5 Pages

    When President Reagan took office, the U.S. was on the back end of the economic prosperity World War 2 had created. The U.S. was experiencing the highest inflation rates since 1947 (13.6% in 1980), unemployment rates reaching 10% in 1982, and nonexistent increases GDP. To combat the recession the country was experiencing, President Reagan implemented the beginning stages of trickle down economics – which was a short-term solution aimed to stimulate the economy. Taxes in the top bracket dropped from 70% to 28% while GDP recovered. However, this short-term growth only masked the real problem at hand.

    Read More

  • Ronald Reagan Beliefs

    810 Words  | 2 Pages

    President Ronald Reagan had a huge impact on our country and the rest of the world while serving as the 40th president of the United States of America. Our country exhibited peace through strength to nations everywhere. The American people prospered economically with less government intervention. Crime rates dropped dramatically and family values were restored. Ronald Wilson Reagan will go down in history as a great president of the United States of America.

    Read More

  • Is Ronald Reagan Under or Overrated as a President?

    663 Words  | 2 Pages

    President Ronald Reagan was our 40th president of the United States. He came into office and was sworn in 1981. At 69 years old Ronald Reagan was the oldest person to ever be sworn into the presidency. His two terms during his presidency were marked by innovative and controversial to his approach to domestic policies. Reagan’s domestic policies were often characterized and criticized as voodoo economics or Reaganomics and can be forceful. His economics policies were based on tax cuts for the wealthy and deficit spending.

    Read More

  • Ronald Reagan, "Reagan" by Lou Cannon

    1174 Words  | 3 Pages

    Reagan offers an insight into the former president's life and presidency prior to 1982. It is well written, providing colorful anecdotes which keep the reader's interest. The personal stories give vivid insight into Reagan's childhood, young adult life and early political career. Although intended to support the idea that Reagan was prepared and qualified for the presidency, Reagan is comprised of over four hundred pages describing Reagan as ill-equipped for the job. Cannon's overcompensation for detachment contradicts his argument that," He (Reagan) belonged in the White House. He had every right to dream heroic dreams," (Cannon, 1981, 411). Though the book is well researched and organized its evidence overwhelms its conclusion.

    Read More

  • Reaganomics

    1595 Words  | 4 Pages

    So what facilitated the positive growth in the US economy in the 1980s? Reaganomics was responsible for this growth through the virtue of supply-side economics, reduction of government spending, reduction of marginal tax rates, reduction of regulation, and the reduction of inflation. Reaganomics beat stagflation by boosting the stagnant economy, and by reducing inflation. Altogether President Reagan’s policies were very successful: he created 20 million new jobs, dropped inflation from 13.5 percent to 4.1 percent, dropped unemployment from 7.6 to 5.5 percent, and increased real gross national product by 26 percent (Source 5). Future presidents should keep Reaganomics in mind when writing their own economic policies.

    Read More

  • Ronald Reagan

    1139 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...s of economic and political initiatives that became known as "the Reagan revolution." His accomplishments of winning the Cold War without firing a shot, recovering the American economy known as Reaganomics and his “Star Wars” predicament, his two terms during presidency did not go unseen. He restored the traditional spirit of can-do optimism to the American people, making him a President that cannot be forgotten.

    Read More

  • Ronald Reagan

    888 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ronald Reagan was a very popular person before, during, and after his time of presidency. He went from a mere radio announcer, to the head of the United States of America. Ronald had defeated most of the world’s problems with Communism, improved the economy, and handled terrorist threats like a pro. Ronald quickly took America’s heart with his honorable deeds and doings. He was very famous by the time he became deceased. (Ronald Reagan Facts.)

    Read More

  • Ronald Reagan Impact

    1072 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ronald Reagan was a man of many talents from sports, to acting, and finally politics. Reagan sought “peace through strength”; meaning that in order for us to have peace he would need the strength or power to provide us with just that. Having two terms in office it seems like Reagan was satisfied with most of what he could change in the U.S. He caused many differences throughout the nation; he made an impact. Ronald Reagan was the 40th president of the United States of America; holding his seat from 1981 to 1989. Implementing Reaganomics which was basically meant to cut taxes which in turn generates more revenue. Reagan wanted “the American people to believe in themselves again” that was one of his main goals and some would say that he succeeded

    Read More

  • The Conservative Ascendancy

    933 Words  | 2 Pages

    The terrible economy under President Carter’s was a large factor to ascendancy of the conservative movement. The economy was far from fruitful and it was in a terrible recession. Many historians credit the economic crisis during the Carter Administration to inflation. Half of all of the economy’s inflation since 1940 occurred in a ten year period and interest rates were rapidly rising putting mortgages out of reach for many middle class Americans. While the interest rates were on the rise, home rental rates in many parts of the country doubled. In addition to the rising costs in living, college tuition...

    Read More

  • The New Right

    1588 Words  | 4 Pages

    There was general prosperity in America following the Second World War, however in the 1970s inflation rose, productivity decreased, and corporate debt increased. Individual incomes slipped as oil prices raised. Popular dissent surrounding the economic crisis helped Reagan win the 1980 election under promises to lower taxes, deregulate, and bring America out of stagnation. Many New Right supporters put their faith in him to change the system. To start his tenure, Reagan passed significant tax cuts for the rich to encourage investment. Next he passed the Economy Recovery Tax Act that cut tax rates by 25% with special provisions that favored business. Reagan’s economic measures were based on his belief in supply-side economics, which argued that tax cuts for the wealthy and for business stimulates investment, with the benefits eventually tricking down to the popular masses. His supply-side economic policies were generally consistent with the establishment’s support of free market, ...

    Read More

More about Reaganomics Pros And Cons

Open Document